Cardinals Caravan

Winter is long and cold, and even though there is football and basketball to watch, I miss baseball season. But Greg and I had a little reprieve from our winter/no baseball blues last night when the Cardinals Caravan came to Springfield! Each year a few Cardinals players--both past and present--travel around to different towns in the Midwest and put on a program. This was our first year going, and it was so much fun!

The past Cardinals players who came included John Mabry, Cal Eldred, Alan Benes, and Ricky Horton. The current players included third baseman David Freese, outfielder John Jay, and rookie Pete Kozma. And of course Fredbird was there. This was my first opportunity to meet Fredbird, and, as you can see, he almost bit my head off! He smelled like baby powder.




Autographs were just supposed to be for kids ages 15 and under, but I have been mistaken for a 15 year old before :-) I was good and waited until all of the kids had gotten in line, then I got in line behind them. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to meet some of the players (I wasn't the only adult to end up in line). Here is David Freese signing a baseball for me. I have to confess, I have a little crush on him--he is so cute and really nice. Don't worry about Greg being jealous--he seemed to have a bit of a man crush on all of the players :-)

Here's a great picture Greg took of the three current players. Pete Kozma, on the far left, is signing my baseball. He was really nice too. John Jay, in the middle, wasn't very talkative, but he was nice to smile for the picture, and then there's David on the right. What a great evening we had! It got us all excited for baseball season, and it gave us hope that winter will not last forever.

The Nap

The Latest

This is a picture of Big Spike--in Greg's pajama pants. You can just see his little tail poking out the back. Poor Big Spike got totally disoriented when Greg put his pj pants over his head. He was running around on the bed, and it was so funny! He finally found his way out. He is a silly pup. Without a job, I've been able to spend some quality time with the animal children. But, I'm kind of back on a regular schedule now that I am volunteering for my friend Linda at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (you may remember that she was laid off in 2008, but then when the governor was impeached and arrested, Linda got her job back). I've been having a great time working with her three days each week, and this week I'm going to start volunteering for my friend Susan, the curator at the Lincoln Home, one day a week. So I'll still be busy and learning good museum skills. I also get to see and do a lot of cool things, like help Linda pack up all of the artifacts at Frank Lloyd Wright's Dana-Thomas House, which is going to be closed for some repairs. It's pretty neat to touch (with white gloves on, of course) something that Frank Lloyd Wright actually made. I have also found a new favorite way to work out during the winter: EA Sports Active 2 for the Nintendo Wii. It is so fun! I have my own personal trainer, named Devon (but I named him Mario--since eating at Mario's on New Year's Eve, I name everyone Mario), and I can do a lot of great workouts, including mountain biking, basketball, and boxing, right in the living room. So life is good.

Out Like a Lion

Goodbye 2010, and good riddance! 2010 was quite the year. As if the year hadn't been long enough, with Mom and Dad both being diagnosed with cancer and having multiple surgeries, with friends and myself losing jobs, with friends moving away, with the several-month "reign of terror" at the Lincoln Home this past spring, and . . . well, the list could go on. So it has been a long year, but it couldn't just end quietly--instead it had to milk every last minute of itself! It would seem that a little mini two-day vacation to Zion National Park for Mom and Dad in between Christmas and New Year's would be an innocent enough activity, but then Dad ended up in the hospital in St. George! Their two-day vacation turned into a five-day ordeal--sorry Mom and Dad! But thankfully things are going better now and they are safely back home in Orem for the New Year.

Then, yesterday, after weeks of winter temperatures, it reaches 62 degrees here in central Illinois, and we have tornadoes--in the middle of winter! The closest tornado to us hit the town of Petersburg--just west of where we used to live in Athens. Here is a picture of the damage to homes near Lake Petersburg where a couple of our friends live. Their home was damaged, but thankfully it is still habitable. What a way to end the year!

So, when I woke up to sunshine and frigid temperatures this morning, I was grateful--grateful for the cold weather, which means no tornadoes. And grateful that even though a lot of crappy stuff happened in 2010, we and our family and friends all made it through the year in one piece. We're very blessed to have the medical technology that allows cancer to be removed and babies to be born healthy. Babies--cute babies (and elves in training) Ben and Leo--are reasons enough to be happy about 2010. But hopefully since 2010 went "out like a lion," 2011 will come in (and go out) like a lamb!

'Twas the Day of Christmas

Things were so peaceful last night. Today, on the other hand, . . . well, let's just say that there are red feathers and wrapping paper pieces strewn throughout the house, and there is a helicopter flying around my head--I'll explain more in a minute. But Greg took these really cool pictures last night of the Christmas tree and the condo with snow outside.

You can see the candles better in this picture than in the one I took. I do love our little condo. In this next picture you can see the entrance to our condo complex with the woods behind it--what a beautiful winter scene!







This is going to sound really cliche and possibly a little cheesy, but Greg and I took the dogs for a Christmas Eve walk last night, and the only word to describe it is magical. It was snowing and it was so quiet outside! The snow was up to Little Spike's belly, and the dogs were loving playing in the snow. It was the perfect Christmas Eve stroll.


Tiger Lily was the first one to wake up on Christmas morning. She started playing with the blinds at about 6:30 a.m., and then she jumped on my face. I don't know if she just wanted food or if she knew it was a special day. The dogs were very excited when we started opening presents. Here are the ferocious beasts with some of their presents. Lily somehow evaded all pictures, but she was thrilled with the red Santa boa feather toy she received from Pam and Greg. That's where all of the red feathers have come from. (Big Spike has decided he likes the red feather toy too.) Come to think of it, Big Spike has tried to play with everyone's toys.

Here's the toy I got from Greg: an Amazon Kindle--just what I wanted! I spent the entire day searching for and downloading books to read--and, of course, reading. As Greg so aptly put it, giving me a Kindle was like giving crack to a crack addict. But books are better than crack.



And here is Greg with his present: a football signed by the Kansas City Chiefs! Now we just need them to win the Super Bowl so that we can sell it for millions of dollars ;-) One present Greg received that I'm not so sure about is a remote control helicopter--it will surely be used for no good :-) Notice that Big Spike is in every single picture involving presents. Thank you so much to the Taylors, Bowles, and grandparents for the wonderful and generous money, presents, and cards! That's what Christmas is really about--the love of family and friends and remembering the true meaning of this Christmas season. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas today!